"jimmy fallon," happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- houses divided. with the president's tax bill poised to pass the senate, the chamber's top republican issues a take it or leave it warning to house democrats. on thin ice. police dashcam video captures a horrifying highway crash in ohio. and debacle down under. scary moments as a stunt with actor hugh jackman goes wrong shooting "the oprah winfrey show" in australia. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pick time zone. i'm lynn berry.

today we begin with legislative logjam. a final vote on the president's tax cut plan should happen today in the senate. however, a trillion dollar spending bill proposal and a plan to repeal don't ask, don't tell could keep congress on the hill well into their holiday break. nbc's tracie potts joins us with the details from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the final series of votes should start a few hours from now including that final vote on the tax deal. senators appear to have enough votes to get this through and move it on to the house. senator mitch mcconnell, the top republican in the senate, is warning house democrats, don't pick it apart. don't try to change it. vote on this bill as-is, as we made the deal with the president. but perhaps even more urgent than that is the money that's funding the federal running out as of saturday. the latest extension. they need to pass something. democrats are putting forth a

$1.1 trillion spending bill, but republicans want to extend it temporarily yet again until early in next year, possibly february when they will have more influence in the senate and have control of the house, and can get a few more things through. senate majority leader harry reid says if they can't get this done as well as the tax bill they could end up returning after christmas to get it done. finally, don't ask, don't tell, whether they get that in, a house vote is scheduled this week. >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. a terrifying scene unfolded in florida yesterday when a distraught gunman took members of the panama city school board hostage before turning the gun on himself. the dramatic shoot-out which some viewers may find disturbing has scenes captured in the room. nbc's kurt gregory has our report. >> reporter: witnesses say a man identified as clay duke talked

briefly with school board members about his wife's firing. >> we have no idea what you are talking about. >> she was fired. >> reporter: after spray painting a figure on a nearby wall, duke then waived his gun and ordered women and children to leave and took those remaining hostage. >> leave. >> reporter: a female school board member tried to knock the gun out of duke's hand with a purse. he knocked her to the ground. what you're about to see is disturbing. >> please don't, please don't, please. duke fired his weapon. and although nobody was injured by the initial gunshot, duke was confronted by a security guard. after reviewing video, police say duke exchanged gunfire with the guard, then killed himself. >> obviously, a number of rounds were extended and the gun that he had was real. he was not firing blanks. >> reporter: the school board superintendent says security measures for future meetings will be discussed. >> i mean, i've got employees in there that will probably never be the same again.

i'm not sure i'll ever be the same again. >> reporter: a city on edge. an investigation is under way. kurt gregory, nbc news. >> difficult to watch. in other news -- wikileaks' founder julian assange should know by tomorrow whether he will be freed on bail. for now, a sang remains in a london prison after swedish authorities seeking to prosecute him for alleged sex crimes appealed a magistrate's decision yesterday to free assange on about $317,000 bail. and now here's a look 59 some other stories making news early today in america -- police in ohio released dash cam video of a horrifying near fatal accident involving one of their own. an officer was working the scene of an earlier accident when an out of control vehicle plowed into him and the driver of the parked vehicle. the officer went over the guardrail. the other man was pinned. both are recovering and expected to be okay. also in ohio, a good

samaritan came to the rescue after a seemingly routine traffic stop turned into a dangerous struggle bean an officer and a resisting suspect. video shows trying to get the upper hand when a passerby came on the scene and came to his defense. police commend the woman's bravery, but stress civilians should never try to get involved. in missouri, two people survived a spectacular emergency belly landing that sent sparks flying. the pilot couldn't get the landing gear down and was forced to perform the risky maneuver. he did burn off most of his fuel before attempting that landing. remarkable, nonetheless. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> belly landing, the only one i'm doing, on my couch this afternoon. >> passing out, falling asleep. absolutely. >> the only good belly landing.

what happened in organize yesterd oregon yesterday. just outside of salem a tornado. ef-2. 110, 120 mile-per-hour winds right in main street. this is a little small town. only on the ground for one mile, but it just happened to hit the only populated area right around this region. thankfully one injury. numerous routes, you can see, torn off. very, very impressive for this time of year. very rare event there in oregon. that storm system is now gone and exited. still leftover showers, but we shouldn't see anything like that for a long, long time. again, clouds have now increased even in southern california. not a lot of moisture left in the system, though. not calling for a lot of wet weather here. notice cloudy skies during your day. so overall, temperature, definitely on the cooler side. especially in idaho, washington state and oregon. even northern california's on the cooler side. this cold front has sliced on through. temperatures now, 37 in medford. 31 in boysy. look at the forecast, sprinkles in seattle and portland.

58 in l.a. much, much cooler than yesterday. that's a look at your wednesd s. even arizona, record highs yesterday, cooling it off. thursday forecast coming up, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, the fed hits a sour note. retail sales are up again and a computer hits the game show circuit. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, another one bites the dust. we'll tell you which hollywood couple is throwing in the towel. coming up, the lakers get get the better. dwight howard calls it quits and one of the best dunks of this season. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today."

i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- the white house is planning to release a report tomorrow that is expected to conclude the u.s. military has made enough gains in afghanistan to begin withdrawaling troops next july. however, according to the "new york times," the leaker assessment from the intelligence community argue that large swabs of the country remain at risk of falling to the taliban and that neighboring pakistan is still supporting insurgents. hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police outside greece's par innocent during a massive protest against the budget reform. police fired tear gas, flash grenades. a general strike in the country has closed factories and disrupted hospitals and transport services. new york police say they may be hunting for a serial killer after the remains of four bodies were discovered on a remote long island beach. investigators are now working to identify the remains, which

appear to have been on the beach for some time. and mexican police are searching for a preschooler and his apparent mother who were captured on camera stealing in a jewelry store. footage shows the woman distracting employees as the young boy swiped about $400 in merchandise. the sales clerk says she never suspected the pair until seeing the video with her own eyes. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,476 after gaining 47 points yesterday. the s&p was up a point. the nasdaq inched up 2. taking a look at overseas trading this morning -- in tokyo, the nikkei fell 6 points while in hong kong, the hang seng plunged 455. stocks got off to a flying start tuesday. then the fed crashed the party. after the year's last meeting, the federal reserve was unexpectedly pessimistic, calling the recovery slow, looking for unemployment to

remain high, and reaffirming its controversial commitment to buy $600 billion in bonds to stimulate growth. the action was swift, first in bonds. the yield on the 10-year treasury note jumped to 3.46%, its highest level since may, a huge increase from the end of trade monday. this put it into perspective, the leap was equivalent to the dow moving 600 points in one day. ironically, part of why the fed is buying bonds is to help lower long-term interest rates, but the higher yield has the opposite effect. wall street reacted with a late afternoon sell-off that hit financials hard. still, the dow managed to close at its high for the year. spirits had been high earlier thanks to retail sales rising for a fifth straight month in november. pointing to a firm rebound in consumer spending. the one exception. best buy. it plummeted almost 15% after posting third quarter profit that missed expectations. also fueling early trade, general electric, the current

owner of this network, said it expects to show solid earnings growth in 2011 with up to 5% higher revenue. more upbeat news -- a survey showed 45% of executives expect to add workers over the next six months. the highest percentage since the survey began in late 2002. finally, what is bizarre? in february, a friendly game of "jeopardy" pits man versus machine. specifically, an ibm computer against two of the show's most successful contestants. winner of the three-day face-off takes home a million dollar prize. let's hope the computer doesn't spend it all in one place. coming up, the battle of pennsylvania. a player snatches a fan's popcorn, and a high school basketballer goes ballistic. plus, it's being called "the dunk of the year." now you know why. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and warm air is finally returning to the middle of the country, but that means an icy mess. your forecast is coming up.

you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, last night, as if they needed more firepower, the two-time champion defending lakers welcomed a new edition.

here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning to you. it's hard to think that the world champion lakers could get any better, but they did last night. seven footer andrew bonham made a season debut. after having off-season knee surgery. he fished with 7 points against the wizards. kobe bryant went off in the third scored 16 of his 24 in the fourth and the lakers beat the wiz. 103-89. magic play, he's done. not taking part in another all-star slam dunk contest. carmelo anthony knows a thing or two about dunking. the baseline flush in the fourth and the nuggets won it. 11-94. speaking of dunks, demar derozan threw down the best of the year. he exploded to the rim, but it wasn't enough. bobcats won it, 97-91. funny moment in the rockets and kings' game. lewry fouled hard. regained balance in the corner. would you like some popcorn? don't mind if i do. rockets won it, 118-105. college basketball. after pushing michigan state to

the brink on saturday, oakland beat unranked tennessee. oakland won it. there were two streets on the line in philly, only one continues this morning. sidney crosby had two assists bringing his streak to 19. the flyers snapped the penguins 12-game win streak. a 3-2 win to philadelphia. an unfortunate moment in a high school game in florida. desoto high's player got into it with another player. collin responded after being ejected from the game by pushing the referee. and then before you knew it, he put him in a bear hug and threw him to the floor. luckily, he wasn't hurt. collin was restrained and taken out of the building. he's been suspended from school and from the team and from school. a very ugly incident. that's your sports headlines, i'm fred roggin.

a married pair of hollywood heavyweights decide to go their separate ways. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus the week before christmas and all threw the mall, a merry bunch of singers was up to holiday mischief. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this wednesday morning. chilly where you are. if want to feel warmer compare yourself to fairbanks. today the forecast is for minus 31.

incredibly cold temperatures from the coldest in the entire country and lows found up here in northern alaska. today's forecast, the cold front moved through, compared to minus 31, we'll take 55 in san francisco. l.a. today at 58. one of the only warm spots left in the country, phoenix, 74. your temperatures come down thursday. high 63 maybe a chance of a shower. thursday, cooler for all of the west coast. finally it looks like a dry day. if we're watching on knbc and bc 4 in los angeles, california, explore the origins of coffee. its jurn friourney from a seed cup. folk art museum, los angeles, california. that's your pick event of the day. >> we rely on it so much here. don't we, bill? thank you so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. more proof it's hard for hollywood couples stay together as one of the biggest separates. after more than two years,

scarlett johansson and ryan reynolds have decided to end their marriage. a source told us johansson pursued this. she was unhappy with how much time they've been forced to spend apart due to work. on the brighter hollywood side, jennifer conley and paul button confirmed they're expecting their second child together. one actor received 2 1/2 years suspended sentence and three years probation. hugh jackman, talk about a trooper. he kicked off "the oprah winfrey show" in australia, and he agreed to zip line onto the outdoor set from the top of the sydney opera house, but he failed to brake on time, and he injured his eye. but the show must go on. after some love from oprah there, quick first-aid, right back in the game. you'd expect nothing else from

hugh jackman, would you, bill. >> expecting him to brake on his own? >> exactly. don't they have a stuntman to pull the cord? >> dangling, under control? >> exactly. come on. come on. and this comes to us from providence, rhode island, where shoppers in one mall were treated to a surprise concert. an a cappella group invaded the food court in a flash mob performance they called a random act of music. it was a pleasant surprise for the unsuspecting diners. they were understandably confused at first. the group of 17 school kids say the mini concert was their way of giving back to community, especially during the holiday season. and they've got great moves! i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

some leftoverser bett eare left uneaten. archeologists in china unearthed a 24-year old pot of soup from an ancient tomb. sealed in an air tight cooking pot, the culinary find contained animal bones and it was still liquid. the tomb was so tightly sealed that the soup did not evaporate. archaeologists have taken samples to identify the ingredients. sorry about that. christmas came early in south korea. at least for some fish. a scuba diving santa put on an underwater show for thrilled little boys and girls. quite a treat for the fishy, too. santa gave out food to some 12,000 sardines.

saint nick topped off the performance with an impressive, coordinated routine with the fish. way to go, santa. to get you further into the holiday spirit, we take you to an office building. seriously. the staff at a canadian company pulled out all the stops for a cubical decorating contest complete with twinkle lights and antlers over the door. the winning design was a cubical turned shed stocked with all the holiday necessities including a fireplace, and, of course a christmas tree. i would like to know what they do there at that business. i would imagine they're not extremely productive in their business. with those kinds of contests. >> that's pretty cool, a? >> i got it. moving on -- time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc -- passengers traveling on amtrak will now be allowed to bring unloaded guns on board. today's reversal of amtrak's near decade-long ban comes after congress ordered the company to

comply with federal transportation and security standards. in philadelphia, a ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled for a controversial memorial near the liberty bell marking the spot where george washington lived as president with a number of slaves. and you better watch out. the u.s. postal service says if you don't get your holiday cards and packages in the mail by today, there's no guarantee they'll reach their destination by december 25th without paying extra. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in a "today" exclusive, find out who will be named "time" magazine's person of the year for 2010. actors robert de niro and ben stiller talk about their latest film "little fockers." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. sure. decaf or regular? regular. cake or pie? pie. apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream please! (announcer) when other toppings are made with hydrogenated oil, the real dairy cream in reddi wip's sure an easy choice. nothing's more real than reddi wip. fork or spoon?